United States: Why Did Government End Wireless Radiation Studies? Former NIH Scientist Unpacks the Behind-the-Scenes Story

Should we listen to John Bucher, NTP’s associate director from 2007 to early 2018? Are these really valid issues that likely led to NTP’s decision to stop studying the biological effects of wireless RFR. “We were having technical problems, there was really no interest on the part of the regulatory agencies for us to continue these studies, the technical expertise and the drivers behind getting the work done were retired, and there’s competing priorities...”

Exclusive: Why Did Government End Wireless Radiation Studies? Former NIH Scientist Unpacks the Behind-the-Scenes Story
by Suzanne Burdick, Ph.D., children's health defense, February 20, 2025

The National Toxicology Program’s follow-up research on the biological effects of wireless radiation faced a lack of interest from regulatory agencies and technical challenges after its $30 million 2018 study found evidence of cancer and DNA damage, according to John Bucher, Ph.D.

Editor’s note: This is the first in a two-part series investigating why the U.S. government ended studies on the biological effects of wireless radiation.

In January 2024, the National Toxicology Program (NTP) announced it had no plans to further study the effects of cellphone radiofrequency radiation (RFR) on human health — even though the program’s own $30 million study, which took about 10 years to complete in 2018, found “clear evidence” of cancer and DNA damage.

Why did the NTP shut down the studies?

In an exclusive interview with The Defender, John Bucher, Ph.D., discussed what likely led to the demise of follow-up studies despite the NTP’s findings of DNA damage in rats exposed to 2G and 3G cellphone radiation.

Bucher is a former senior scientist in the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) NTP division. NIEHS is one of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) 27 institutes and centers.

After starting in 1983 as a NIEHS staff toxicologist, Bucher served as NTP’s associate director from 2007 to early 2018. He retired in April 2021 but maintains volunteer status. He has been highly involved with NTP’s research on wireless radiation.

Bucher named a “convergence” of issues that likely led to NTP’s decision to stop studying the biological effects of wireless RFR. He told The Defender on Wednesday:

https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/us-government-ntp-end-wireless-radiation-studies-biological-effects/